Just As Planned
by ZeroLuminescence
Summary: Evil will always prevail, not through superiority of skill, not through superiority of ideals, but because good cannot see past the genre blindness of their own nobility. That their actions have consequences. That they are stupid.
1. Price of Nobility

"My lord, it is done."

Voldemort smiled, gleaming snakelike fangs protruding from his mouth. "Excellent. The old fool is dead. Wormtail!"

The man formerly known as Peter Pettigrew scampered to his masters side, looking up more in fear than in reverence. Voldemort decided this was a good thing. There was value in respect, but with men such as Pettigrew, fear is a much more effective emotion to use to his advantage.

"M-m-master?" Pettigrew stuttered.

Voldemort looked down at the pathetic man groveling at his feet. It would soon be different. A new world, an ordered world. One where power is to be feared and respected, where those unworthy would know their place. Talent and magical prowess are all good and well, but it would not do to have those with power, with talent to be left unchecked. Personally, Voldemort had really no problem with mudbloods. They were a nuisance, yes, but more so because they did not hold the same traditions, culture and superstitions pureblooded wizards and witches held. They were more open minded... and less susceptible to be swayed by his half truths and superstitious preaching.

It was nothing personal. But when power over the world was at stake, one did not take chances with free thinkers.

"It is time we played with your "best friend's" son a little more Wormtail... now tell me, you were with that Weasley boy for a good 9 years. Besides him and the mudblood, who else could we use?"

"M-m-master... the boy... never got as close to anyone else... there is one girl he fancied in third year... Cho Chang... but they are not together."

"Take her anyways." Voldemort ordered. "Use her if we can, kill her if we cannot."

"Y-y-yes master."

With a pop, Pettigrew disappeared. Voldemort looked over at a few hooded figures. "Now that the trash is gone..." He received a few chuckles for his troubles. "When will Snape and Bellatrix be back?"

"Soon Master."

Just as the words left the mook's mouth, several pops announced the arrival of his Hogwarts infiltration team.

"Ahh, the prodigal child returns. Welcome back... Draco Malfoy." Voldemort humored the boy. He knew full well that the Malfoys were all bark and little to no bite. He allowed the boy a few moments to bask in his glory... then quickly brushed him aside, turning his attention to those who mattered. "Severus... I trust the second part of the mission I gave you went as smoothly as young Draco's task?"

"Indeed my lord." Snape bowed deeply. "It seems young Mister Potter has developed quite a fanclub this year, however... he did not take fancy to any of them... instead turning his affections onto one young Ginny Weasley. However, sadly, Potter has decided that in order to 'protect' his love, he would have to break up with her."

Voldemort, and just about everyone present, laughed mirthfully. Voldemort almost pitied Dumbledore. The stupidity of the Chosen One was almost exemplary.

"Has he distanced himself from this girl?"

"He has my lord." Snape replied. "In fact, he plans on not returning to Hogwarts next year, instead, choosing to hunt down the remainder of your horcruxes. Potter may be Dumbledore's favorite, but his emotions and mind remain an open book to anyone who cares to look."

Voldemort's eyes flared briefly before he squashed the remnants of fear and anger within him. It would not do for him to show anger in front of his inferiors.

"Very well... let him go. He will not get far. Bellatrix."

"Yes my lord."

"Find the Weasley girl... bring her to me. It is imperative that you BRING her to me. You will not cause collateral damage, you will not kill anybody. You will find the girl, you will go in, and you will BRING HER TO ME. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes my lord! I am your most faithfu-"

"Go."

Bellatrix disappeared in a flash of black. Voldemort smiled inwardly. Simple, lost souls like Bellatrix Lestrange were among the easiest to mold, and there really is no comparison in the value of her loyalty. Snape on the other hand...

"Severus..."

"Yes my lord?"

"You have done well."

"My lord is too kind, there is still much more I can still do."

Voldemort smiled. "That will not be necessary."

He raised his wand.

---

He loves her... he truly loves her... he's only doing this because he loves her...

Ginny didn't know if she was any closer to convincing herself that Harry breaking up with her was the right thing to do, but repeating the mantra over and over again in her head at least distracted her long enough.

She knew it was going to happen eventually. Harry was like that; he was noble. He thought he could protect everyone by pushing them away. By making all outwards appearances seem like he no longer cares.

They say the best spies are ones without close family and friends... when being hunted for information, the enemy had nobody to use for leverage. Ginny understood that concept, but she felt despite that, Harry was not helping anybody by keeping himself isolated from the only power he possessed that Voldemort did not: love.

Just then, alarms rang out through the Burrow. Ginny immediately had her wand out. Throughout the house, she could hear her brothers and her parents jumping to alert as well. Together, the Weasley clan descended the stairs, wands at the ready. Magical energy crackled in the air as adrenaline pumped through everyone's veins. Slowly, gently, Arthur Weasley magicked the front door open...

...and everyone groaned as a stray garden gnome hurled itself into the Weasley living room. It's been happening for a few weeks now, ever since they got back. The garden gnomes had apparently started to act up ever since Dumbledore died; her mum believed that it was because magical creatures can sense imbalances and concentrations of dark magic in the world. Ginny just felt that the garden gnomes were simply acting up just because. She walked over to the twitching gnome since it landed right near her feet during it's impressive leap into the living room and reached down for it, intent on hurling it into the middle of the Atlantic.

---

"STUPEFY!"

Ginny Weasley collapsed in a heap, clutching the now disenchanted muggle garden gnome. Bellatrix kicked the contraption away in disgust. Muggles in their infinite wisdom had apparently saw fit to make plastic replicas of garden gnomes to display in front of their homes. Bellatrix would've much preferred to saunter into the Weasley home and slaughter the entire blood traitorous lot on her way to grabbing the girl, unfortunately her sister had insisted this would be the most discrete method... stealing a muggle garden gnome, animating it to hurl itself towards the Weasley girl and have it serve as a portkey.

The Weasley girl was so dazed by her sudden transportation by portkey that she barely had time to gasp before she was stunned. Bellatrix levitated the girl's limp body, conjured a set of ropes and firmly secured the girl. Then grasping the girl by the arm roughly, she turned on the spot and disappeared, taking the redheaded girl with her.

As Bellatrix vanished, the garden gnome rolled gently down the sloped lawn where the death eater once stood, stopping only when the lifeless body of its former owner stopped it. Moments later, it burst into flame, consuming the poor muggle man, his dead wife, their dead children, the dead cat, the lawn, the house, everything.

---

"I have returned with the girl master."

Voldemort knew how to smile when circumstances to do so presented themselves. This was certainly one of them. He held out his arm towards Bellatrix who eagerly took it and placed wet kisses upon it. He let the woman indulge herself for a second before withdrawing.

"You have done well..." He said. "Go rest, you deserve it. Soon all our plans will come to fruition and you shall stand beside me as I take my rightful place in the world."

Bellatrix Lestrange nearly orgasmed at Voldemort's words. She gleefully pranced off, leaving Voldemort to deal with Potter's little girlfriend how he pleased.

Voldemort looked at the young, unconscious girl. He probed her, fed upon her memories, opened her emotions and read them as a book. One glance and he knew she was the one he needed. Voldemort glanced over at two of his death eaters.

"You two... take Miss Weasley to her chambers. Make SURE she remains well fed, alive, comfortable and UNHURT. In fact, for every scratch I find on her body, I will KILL one of your family members. This is how important it is to me that she remains unhurt. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes my lord!" The two guards stuttered. They quickly and gently levitated Ginny's body from the room, making great care to move her delicately and keep her far away from the rough walls of Voldemort's dingy hideout. Voldemort looked over at Peter Pettigrew, standing to one side, scared stiff.

"Wormtail, you did well in bringing the Chang girl. Unfortunately, she is no longer of use to us."

"My lord?"

Voldemort sighed, you'd figure after nearly 2 decades, this idiot would understand what it meant when a hostage is no longer of any use.

"Kill her. And dump her body where we put dear old Snivellus. It's time we made a move on young Harry Potter."


	2. Psychological Warfare

Ginny Weasley was confused. Her head darted about as she surveyed her surroundings. She was confined within a large room. There were no doors, but a large bay window displayed a beautiful panoramic view of a lush, green forest. The room itself was sparsely, but comfortably furnished. A cushioned chair, a large bed, neutral wallpaper, a dresser, a closet with comfortable clothing, and a desk with an ink and quill set. Several pictures of her beloved Harry Potter stood on the dresser.

There was however... no door. Ginny frantically searched around for her wand, only to find it missing. Though by outward appearances, this was a very comfortable, cushy room, in her heart, she knew otherwise.

It was a prison.

-

Voldemort surveyed the youngest Weasley through a magical monitor. The room itself had no doors, entrance and exit was only granted by portkey. The window itself was magically sealed. It will not open, and it will not break.

In the course of his work, Voldemort has learned from his mistakes and perfected his techniques. Torture was more than knives, flames, the feeling of pain, despair, fear of death. If a soul was troubled enough in its own right, the mental break would occur by itself. All it needed... was a little time.

Voldemort turned to his death eater vanguard that followed him everywhere.

"Make sure she is well fed every hour on the hour. Any injuries she sustains, all illnesses must be cured. You will not reveal yourself to her. You will not treat her poorly. You will be civil to her."

The death eaters nodded, though Voldemort sensed their frustration. But there is a reason he is the Dark Lord while they are mere servants. He understood much more than they did. Leaving the guards to keep an eye over the Weasley girl, Voldemort strode from the room.

He had other things to do

-

War was more than simple wands, spells and soldiers. Everybody and their mothers expect Voldemort to show up on their doorstep and throw around a few Avada Kedavras. When Goliath becomes predictable, he becomes vulnerable. However, when your enemies do not know what you are doing, when you act against how people perceive you as, then you become a ghost, one who may strike at anytime, anywhere, with just about anything.

Ginny Weasley needed to be kept alive. A living Ginny Weasley was leverage against Harry Potter. A living Ginny Weasley can be mentally broken to even turn against Harry Potter. A dead Ginny Weasley is a conglomeration of human cells that no longer function. A dead Ginny Weasley serves no purpose to Voldemort.

And even beyond that, if Voldemort strolled into Ginny's room and started flinging fiendfyre and cruciatus curses around, well, it will simply reaffirm in the young Weasley's mind that Voldemort is evil, and Harry is the greatest good. The line between good and evil, black and white would become more and more defined.

However, keeping her in a comfortable room, keeping her safe, well fed and letting her stew with her own thoughts, doing things that are contrary to her concept of "Lord Voldemort" would create confusion. Her observations would contradict her prior conceptions, her predisposed notions. In the end, a mind weakened by confusion is much easier to sway than a mind hardened by conviction.

However, Ginny Weasley was just one tool to be used against one thorn in his side: Harry James Potter. Voldemort had other fish to fry, namely, the Ministry of Magic.

Effective governmental regime changes do not occur with the dropping of bombs and the spilling of blood. In the 1930's, Adolf Hitler did not take Berlin in a storm of fire, this Voldemort knew. The muggle leader was elected by the muggle people of Germany as their chancellor. Nazism did not kill people to gain prominence in the German Government. Nazism simply worked with existing government systems and played upon the superstitions and the beliefs of the general public.

This is however not to say spilling blood isn't necessary. When two opposing forces come to an impasse, the only way for either's continual existence is the destruction of the other. Muggle revolutionary Vladimir Lenin understood that blood was necessary for revolution. Even the so called free thinkers from America like Thomas Jefferson admits that "the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."

Voldemort decided he would employ the techniques of both Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Lenin.

-

Incompetence in government is the greatest ally of an insurgent force. As much as Voldemort HATED to admit it, he and his death eaters, up to this moment, were an insurgent force. They were the "bad" guys. They were against the current way of life, the current form of government. They posed the greatest risk to the political careers of the current government officials.

Cornelius Fudge, in his insistence that Voldemort had not returned, had unwittingly provided the greatest assistance to Voldemort he could possibly imagine. Fudge's overbearing hawking over Dumbledore and Potter, the fact that Fudge placed value of his own political career over the lives of those he governs, and Fudge's continual reassurances to the public that Voldemort was not back had allowed the Dark Lord to operate completely under the radar. Voldemort could do just about ANYTHING and not be blamed for it. After all, the official line was, he did not exist. Ergo, if he did not exist, his crimes did not exist.

Fortunately for Voldemort, Fudge's replacement seems as eager to help him as Fudge was. By insisting to the public that all was well, Voldemort's slow infiltration of the ministry has gone largely unknown by all who were not personally connected to the Order of the Phoenix. Now that Dumbledore was no more, even fewer people suspect that Voldemort and his death eaters now hold a nearly 60% majority in all departments that govern the daily lives of British Wizards in the Ministry of Magic.

Unfortunately for Rufus Scrimgeour, his usefulness has now come to an end. As Voldemort stood over the dead minister's body, he realized his moment had come. This was the turning point. Lord Voldemort and his death eaters will soon cease to become insurgents. They will soon become the government.

Pius Thicknesse's unfocused eyes stared into the distance as he faced the Dark Lord. Besides him, Voldemort could sense that his death eaters were barely containing their excitement. But he had trained them well, or at least intimidated them well. They know that the time for celebration would come later. Now, he had work to do.

Thicknesse was ordered to carry out vast changes throughout the ministry, including the Muggle Born Registration Committee, the new attitude towards Dark Arts and Blood Purity in Hogwarts, as well as the declaring of various individuals as "undesirables."

After giving Pius his new political agenda, Voldemort nodded to Yaxley, who then shooed Pius out of the office. The changes would be widespread, but they would occurs slowly, gradually. The change would be accepted by most people, but not all. After all, no government was ever unanimously supported. There would always be the Dumbledores and the Weasleys and the Potters to oppose.

Voldemort knew that the news of Ginny Weasley's disappearance would have reached Potter by now. His plans for the ministry by in large fit the notion of how "Lord Voldemort" should act. But for new, he needed his enemies to maintain their belief that they know who Lord Voldemort is and how Lord Voldemort thinks. A complacent enemy is a weak one.

He looked over at Bellatrix who gazed upon him with adoring eyes. Voldemort chuckled. Love, Dumbledore's greatest weapon, came in all forms, shapes and variations. The world was not black and white.

But his plans for Potter would come later. For now, he must keep his opponents confused. Potter and the Order of the Phoenix were now the insurgents. Voldemort would not make the same mistakes Fudge made. Magical law enforcement, rather than keep the public at ease with lies about undesirables not existing, were now in full force hunting Potter and known Order members, and keeping the public involved.

An insurgency allowed to banned together was an internal time bomb. An insurgency kept in a constant state of confusion and deprived of any good base of operations become ineffective and would dissipate in time.

-

Voldemort hated muggles, hated current society, hated how the world works. As a child, he was cast aside. His father loved neither him nor his mother. However, blood purity was but a mere tool. The most dangerous, yet potentially most loyal people he could have at his side were fanatical blood purists. But, simply because he hated muggles and muggleborns did not mean he did not understand their culture, their lives, their ways. Ignorance defeated him once. His disrespect for the power of his opponents had nearly cost him his universe.

He would not make the same mistake.

"Avery, how is young Miss Weasley?"

Avery bowed in deference. "She's doing well. Cabin fever has set in. She has begun to question who and why she's being held. It seems she's very confused."

"Excellent. And her feelings towards our favorite boy?"

Avery grinned, his overly bleached whites gleaming from underneath his black hood. "It seems she's been scratching at the tiny itch for quite a while now. Slowly, she's starting to resent Potter for abandoning her. It doesn't help that her brain is slowly starting to reconfigure facts for her. She's slowly blaming Potter for her fate."

"Excellent. Now Avery, I trust you have business in the Ministry to attend to?"

"Yes Master... though I do not understand, why do we not simply eliminate all the mudbloods and blood traitors? We have the ministry."

"Ahh Avery..." Voldemort tisked. "In due time all will know their place and value in life and our new world. However, the mistakes of the past must not be committed twice. Our brashness and disrespect of the power our opponents hold against us was my undoing 17 years ago. I will not repeat the same mistakes. After all, the mudbloods were able to usurp their magical powers from true purebloods. Do not underestimate them."

"Yes my lord. You are wise and merciful."

Voldemort nodded and waved Avery off. Moments later, as if summoned, Bellatrix Lestrange appeared before him, falling to her knees at the sight of him once more.

"Bellatrix... you have always been the most loyal, the most loving of your lord."

"I live to serve my Dark Lord!"

"Excellent... come, walk with me. It is time we dealt with the Potter problem..."

-

Delicate fingers tightened around a familiar stick of wood. The wand sparkled, startled at being touched suddenly, then settled itself back into the familiar warmth of its owner. Delicate manicured fingers caressed the wood, kept in pristine shape by a family that refused to acknowledge that their youngest daughter was lost forever.

Then in one flick of the wand the room lit ablaze. The fierce fire tore through the burrow, consuming anything and everything...

Including five living statues lying stiff in the living rooms... their faces a snapshot of surprise... shock... and horror...


End file.
